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Message: [QUOTE="Bombastus, post: 91767, member: 2178"] APU Harmonic DJ imports UTF-8 M3U and M3U8 playlists, then exports UTF-8 M3U files that point directly to the original local audio. The playlist is mainly a running order plus file references, not a portable copy of your DJ preparation. The [B][URL='https://goldmidi.com/community/threads/apu-software-has-expanded-harmonic-dj-with-plug-in-formats.77146/']playlist exchange added to Harmonic DJ[/URL][/B] is useful when another application already speaks M3U. You can bring a local selection into Harmonic DJ, refine the order, then hand the resulting sequence back without rebuilding the list by hand. Native Traktor NML is not accepted, even though M3U exchange can still fit a Traktor workflow when the surrounding software exports and imports that format. Harmonic DJ also cannot guarantee that another application will accept M3U8 simply because Harmonic DJ accepts it on import. [HEADING=2]Absolute paths make exported playlists less portable[/HEADING] Harmonic DJ accepts relative paths and local file URLs when it reads a playlist. Export works differently. The generated M3U uses absolute paths to the original audio files on the machine where you created it. The distinction becomes important as soon as the playlist leaves the computer. A Windows path with a drive letter will not suddenly resolve on a Mac, and a Mac path will not describe where the same audio lives on Windows. Foreign paths need relocation before Harmonic DJ can import them successfully. Moving the audio to another folder can create the same problem even without changing operating systems. The M3U still points to the location it was given. The audio must remain accessible under a usable path rather than merely sharing the same artist and title tags. Export is stricter than a simple text dump. Every exported track needs an available local audio file. Missing files and path-free entries from shared collections block the operation instead of producing references that cannot be played later. Import is more forgiving about a mixed playlist. Harmonic DJ keeps the first occurrence of each file, reports duplicates, missing files, and unsupported entries, then lets you decide whether the available tracks are still worth importing. Repeated entries are handled differently on export, where authored repetitions in the current order are retained. [HEADING=2]Imported playlists become a controlled source pool[/HEADING] Importing into the Library and importing directly into a Mix are not identical operations. Library import adds or reuses the referenced audio and applies the selected Library group. Mix import creates a named Mix in the playlist's existing order without rewriting the tracks' current Library groups. New or changed audio is queued for analysis during either route. Tracks that already have successful analysis and have not changed reuse that work, so importing a playlist does not automatically mean analyzing the entire selection again. A newly imported Mix starts with its tracks unlocked. Harmonic DJ keeps the full imported candidate pool even after you remove or reorder rows. The source remains available for later generation and alternative-track choices. You can switch the Mix source from the imported playlist to Library groups and return to the imported source later. Tracks you explicitly lock stay included, while ordinary BPM, key, and transition constraints still decide which other candidates are eligible. Importing a playlist therefore narrows where Harmonic DJ searches without suspending the rules used to build a compatible route. The source pool and its current selection are stored with the Mix document and participate in undo history. Playlist import and export are also available in Community, although durable editing and full-length generation still follow the separate Community and Pro limits. [HEADING=2]Playlist files leave DJ preparation behind[/HEADING] M3U exchange does not transfer cue points, beat grids, Harmonic DJ analysis, playback processing, or Mix settings. Those omissions are easy to miss because the track order can arrive perfectly while the preparation attached to those tracks does not. The limitation fits a broader problem described in [B][URL='https://research.tue.nl/en/publications/connecting-the-dots-music-metadata-generation-schemas-and-applica/']research on music metadata schemas[/URL][/B], where different music applications need different levels of metadata richness. A lightweight playlist reference can move an ordered selection without carrying the deeper state used by a specialized mixing or analysis tool. Harmonic DJ uses its own Mix file when that deeper planning state needs to survive. A playlist suits a destination that mainly needs the ordered local tracks. The HDJ Mix format retains Harmonic DJ-specific planning choices that M3U does not know how to represent. Library export has another useful distinction. You can export selected rows or the current filtered Library view, and Harmonic DJ writes them in the order currently displayed rather than silently choosing a new sequence. A Mix export writes the authored order instead. The exported file still depends on resolvable local paths, so transferring it to a different machine is not song-matching by title, artist, or catalog identity. The receiving setup has to point those references to real audio files before the playlist becomes usable. [/QUOTE]

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